Protect children from heat-related illnesses, pediatricians warn

July 4, 2000
Web posted at: 1:38 p.m. EDT (1738 GMT)

From staff reports

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Sun-baked summer days can turn back yard and ballpark alike into a neighborhood-sized toaster oven.

For years, parents have been telling their kids to slow down and drink lots of water to beat the heat. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says there are better ways to cope.

"Now children who just drink water are in more danger of getting dehydrated than children who drink flavored drinks," said pediatrician Michael Levine. "Because if they're drinking a flavored drink, they'll drink more of it so there'll be less chance of them being dehydrated."

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Even healthier than a flavored drink, doctors say, is a sports drink, which is specially formulated with added salts and carbohydrates. But parents should discourage dependence on soft drinks, which are less effective against dehydration. Caffeinated drinks actually speed up fluid loss.

The recommendations come as a surprise to some parents.

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Children's physiology makes them different from adults. They heat up faster, and cannot sweat as much. Normally, this isn't a problem. But hot, humid weather puts them at higher risk of heat exhaustion and the more dangerous heat stroke.

Though the two are related, heat exhaustion is different from heat stroke. Heat exhaustion takes time to develop, while heat stroke can strike suddenly. While first aid is appropriate for both conditions, heat stroke is an emergency requiring hospital care.

In 1982, the academy's committee on sports medicine also recommended thorough hydration for exercising children, but mentioned only cold water as a means to achieve it -- specifically, at least 4.5 ounces of water every half hour for each 18 pounds of body weight during physical activity.

Drinking water is still a good idea, as long as kids remember to drink what they need to replace lost fluids. And fluid loss can be greater than you think -- about four quarts in a normal day and much more during strenuous physical activity.

In addition, doctors recommend gradual exercise while getting used to a hotter, more humid climate, and stress the importance of single-layer, lightweight, absorbent clothing. Sweat-saturated garments should be changed to dry ones.

CNN Correspondent Brian Cabell contributed to this report.

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American Academy of Pediatrics
First Aid For Heat Stroke
American Institute for Preventive Medicine

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